Running Skirt Review

My Impulsivity Bites Me in the Rear Again

So, recently I was all, "I'm rewarding myself!" and I ordered a new running skirt.  I thought I'd try a new brand. 

Stupid!

Of course, there was nothing wrong with my original skirt.  I've used it for every single run I've taken since I bought it almost a year ago.  I've washed it in a lingerie bag on cold and hung it to dry numerous times a week.  It's in incredible, like-new condition.  I've even lost 30 pounds in this skirt, and it still does not ride up.  It is great. 

So what possessed me to get a new one? 

Well, of course, more than one running skirt could sure save me some hassle... and I've been wanting a more neutral color, so matching is less challenging.

But was there a real need to change brands??!?!?

So, as you can guess, my new skirt failed me.

(wah, wah, waaaah...)


Read the Reviews, Duh

So, ever the bargain shopper, I was looking to find a deal.  While my Sparkle Skirt is worth every single penny, I just recently dropped a TON of money on new running shoes, a trip to DC, an expensive race... you get the idea.

So, when I saw FREE SHIPPING on runningskirts.com, I thought it was worth a shot.  Yes, I read reviews, and yes, some of them said the shorts rode up.  But I went ahead and ordered one anyway.
(forehead slap)

I thought, "there were hardly any reviews describing the shorts riding up...  there's a sale... they're cute skirts... there's a sale... I really want a new one... there's a sale... and I could write a review on my blog... and there's a sale!!!!!!"


Running Skirts www.Runningskirts.com


I ordered a black "athletic skirt."  When it arrived, (in about a week or so), I was pretty excited.  I figured I'd give it a quick try walking around the house a bit, and even a slow jog on the treadmill.  If it worked out, I'd remove the tags and start my normal treadmill workout.  Exciting!

When I put it on, I was pretty thrilled.  This skirt was adorable!  I'm kicking myself now that I didn't get a photo of it to post here.  The cut was hot, and the black was slimming.  I felt- dare I say... sexy!!  The BF was a BIG fan as well.  ;)

I wasn't crazy about the little logo on it.  It wasn't ugly or anything, but I'd have preferred it not be there.  The little running girl logo seemed larger in person than in the photo, too.  I was also little bummed with the pockets.  They're on the hips on the outside of the skirt.  That's a major drawback in my book.  I NEED pockets in order store my inhaler.  I can't run without my inhaler, and most other running gear isn't very inhaler-friendly.  If I had put an inhaler in these pockets (or anything else bulky, for that matter), I'd have had some strange looking hips.  I'm honestly too vain for that.

Unfortunately, while I felt really cute in this skirt, it only took a quick walk around the room to make me nervous about it.  It felt like the bike shorts were going to ride up.  I really wanted it to work, though, so I wasn't ready to admit defeat yet.  I walked downstairs, and down even further to the treadmill in the basement.  Again, I found myself wondering, "are these shorts starting to creep up?"

It only took my slowest, most pathetic paced jog on the treadmill- for about one minute- to realize the shorts were indeed riding up.  MAJOR BUMMER!  I really wanted to love this skirt.  I did love this skirt.  Did I mention how cute it was?  I wouldn't have hesitated to keep it and just wear it in place of shorts for everyday use this summer, but my budget was screaming, "no!"  If I am going to spend a lot of money on a running skirt, it needs to be a skirt I can run in.

So, unfortunately, I had to take the skirt off, put my beloved standby skirt back on, and go about my workout.  I reviewed the receipt the next day for their return policy.

uh oh...  First glance at the return policy says in-store credit only.  What??!?!  I clearly am not the right shape girl for these skirts, and the last thing I need is more running shirts or other gear.  I need a skirt!  I need that money back to get a different skirt that works!

So, I took a deep, cleansing breath, and read again.  Ok, so "sale" items can't be returned for cash, but it looks like regular priced items can.  Still, I worried (cuz I have junk luck) that the free shipping might be considered a "sale."  I sure thought of it as a sale when I justified spending the money in the first place.  ;)

I called the company.  I briefly asked the gal on the line if I could return my skirt for a refund.  She never asked about if it was on sale.  She never asked my reason for returning.  She wasn't very talkative at all, actually.  Hmm... She must have been busy.  She just said that I should send back the skirt with a note on the packing slip stating I wanted a refund, and they would "take it from there." 

Um, ok.

So, that's what I did.  I'm waiting now to see what happens.  (I'll update later.)  As far as I'm concerned, if they refund me, we're all good.  Really, it's a great skirt.  I bet it works great for lots of people.  I however, have a significant tummy.  I also have rather large thighs that rub together more than any human's should.  Sad, but true.    I'm confident that if you do not have a significant tummy and cricket-like rubbing thighs, you will love this skirt.  Surely, you'll feel hot in it.  I can definitely vouch for that. :)

UPDATE: 4/20/13 one day after they received my return, I got an email from runningksirts.com notifying me of my refund- no questions asked.  Yay!  That's good customer service in my book.


My Beloved Skirt  www.sparkleskirts.com


So, after all that, I'll take a minute to tell you why I love the skirt I do have.

As I've said before, I've had it a long time.  It's been almost a year already, actually.  I've worn it about three runs a week for a year.  I throw it in a lingerie bag, wash it on the normal cycle, in cold water.  They recommend washing on gentle, but I never have.  I've not had one string start to unravel, no fraying, no losing its shape... not a single complaint.

I've lost, as I've said, more than thirty pounds wearing this skirt.  It still fits nicely, but the shorts are just recently starting to inch up just the tiniest bit sometimes.  I really think that's because my thighs are getting just a little smaller.  (Yay!)  It is time for a new one.

Beyond how great it has held up and it's lack of ride-up, it has other great qualities.  It is flattering.  It's got a fuller skirt.  At first, I worried that would look lame or old-ladylike.  It doesn't.  Well, I don't think so, anyway.  The fuller skirt hides my less attractive features, but it also hides my inhaler!  Each thigh has a huge 4x4' pocket on its side.  How cool is that?  And unless I lift the skirt, you'd never know anything was in there.  Awesome!

It also has a long, 12" pocket across the tummy.  I keep my pedometer there, and for my half marathon, it held gu nicely.  It's also a great place for my Burt's Bees, cough drops, etc.

I just love these skirts.  I recommend them to everyone.  I'm open to trying others, of course, but for now, I'm still running in my Sparkle Skirt.  www.sparkleskirts.com If I get a refund from the other place, I'm going to order the next size down in solid black.  I can hardly wait!

 

What skirts do you love?  Can it hide an inhaler?

Thanks for reading.

Rewarding Myself

Milking It

So, it's coming up on the week anniversary of my big half marathon accomplishment...

ok, I know that's ridiculous.  I am aware that marking an anniversary of a race is nutty, but I'm starting to realize that it's not a far stretch from how much I've been milking this whole 13.1 deal.

In all fairness, this was some kind of miracle accomplishment for me.  I mean, I've been on the treadmill for months, only leaving it once for an outdoor run in Chicago.  Hours of Weeds and Mad Men have been run through the Netflix account, (I'm not THAT far into Mad Men yet, though, so don't spoil anything for me), but I hadn't actually hit the pavement much at all.  Who knew how I would do?   Prior to this race, my biggest accomplishment (in 4 years) was the 5 mile Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving.

So, going from a five mile race to a 13.1 is pretty cool, in and of itself.  But then to think I had only trained to walk-run it... but I ran it all?  I mean, slow or not, that's pretty sweet.  Ok, I know no one is gonna make a movie out of it or anything, but I have sure enjoyed the thrill of it.

Bumper sticker, Facebook posts, tweets, and of course blog posts... even I can now admit that maybe it's time to start moving on.

(reluctantly) 


So Now What?

I have this odd conundrum.  I had planned to run my first half in fall.  I was going to walk-run this one, do my Bellin Run (10k) in June, throw in some other 5ks or so in the meantime, and work toward my September half.

So what do I do now that I jumped the gun?  Sure, I'm still gonna run the Fox Cities Half www.foxcitiesmarathon.org, and you bet your butt I'm aiming for a much better time... but what do I do in the meantime??

I'm the kind of gal that needs a carrot.  Constantly.  It's the biggest reason I race.  I will stay more disciplined if I have a race that I'm working toward.

So, tonight I officially registered for the Bellin Run.  www.bellinrun.com
And now I begin the search for whatever else might motivate me between now and June, and then June to September.  Of course, I'm after the cool medals and fun swag, too.  A great race t-shirt goes a long way with me. :) (thank you, www.tyranena.com/beerrun/ )


But One More Treat

I finally ordered myself a new running skirt.  I've had the same lovely skirt since I started back up running last May.  I have since lost 30 pounds, and am on my second pair of running shoes.  Yet, I have still been wearing the same running skirt.  For every single run.   It's held up beautifully, but seriously.  Can you fathom how often I'm washing my running gear?  UGH!

So, I figured I'd milk the half marathon accomplishment one more time, and treat myself to what I've been dreaming of for months: a new running skirt.

I took advantage of the free shipping from www.runningskirts.com and dared to buy a different brand.  Fingers crossed that I love it, or I'll kick myself for not being loyal to www.sparkleskirts.com.  It's just such an investment.  I had to grab onto the lower price and free shipping.  I'm hoping at the very least, I'm doing a little bit less laundry.


Rest Is Over

Tomorrow, I pledge to end my big period of rest, and get back running.  Between returning from the trip and the overwhelming events the Munchkins have had this week, I haven't been able to get to the BF's to use the treadmill.  No more excuses!  Tomorrow I don the tights and layers of ugly winter gear, and go for a morning run!  Outside!  (with my skirt, of course)

brrrr....




Thanks for reading!

2013 Rock n Roll Marathon + 1/2 Race Review

Race Morning- Corrals and Snacks

The BF and I woke and headed out to the race early, as recommended by Rock N Roll Marathon organizers.  Anticipating high metro traffic, we headed out a little after 6am (race started at 7:30).  The Metro was fine.  There were a number of runners, sure, but plenty of empty seats to choose from.  Cool.  Things were looking good.

Our view walking to the start line after the Metro

We got to the start line to scope it out.  We had one of the last corrals, because I had an estimated finish time of 3 hours.  The BF also wrote that as his time, so he could start with me.  It wasn't until we were about to start that we realized they didn't put us in the same corrals anyway.  Whatever.  The corrals turned out to be kind of a joke anyway.  People all moved forward slowly as the waves went out, and all the lines blurred.  I'm still not sure what corral we actually ended up starting in.

Anyway, the corrals had port-a-potties right in them.  This turned out to be one of those good thing/bad thing deals.  It was nice that you didn't have to leave your corral to use one right before the race, but the lines also got in the way as the waves headed out and people moved forward.  Nonetheless, we made use of them while waiting for our wave to start, so I'm thankful.

After finding our corral, we headed to the gear checks, (by way of some snack tables).  I grabbed a banana and two little water bottles.  I had my protein bar packed, but I was glad to add a banana to my morning meal.  It was nice that they were full bananas, rather than cut in half like some races (and thus brown and slimy).  I also ended up carrying the second water bottle for the first three miles or so, which was nice (I'll get to the water stop mess in the race summary). 

Gear Check

So, we got VERY lucky with regard to the gear check.  Arriving as early as we did is clearly a MUST.  I'm guessing using the BF's last name initial (S) was helpful, too.  After we dropped our gear and headed back around to the starting corrals, we saw the lines get longer and longer.  They used buses for gear check.  Because it was so early in the morning, it was hard to see the letter groupings labels on the buses, which was a bit annoying.  The only signs we saw were on the back doors of the buses, where they loaded.  It would have been nice to have a bigger sign on the sides as well.

Gear Check near the Washington Monument



Starting Line

I was very cold at the start, and freaking out a little bit about the gear I chose.  Almost everyone around me was wearing way more layers than I chose.  I was wearing my skirt (of course) (http://www.sparkleskirts.com/) and my long sleeved shirt.  That's it.  No gloves, no knit hat, no tights.  I HATE getting over-heated, so I usually err on the lighter side gear-wise, but I was worried about almost everything before this race.  Why not gear, too?

I was not much fun to be around before this race.  I had tons of doubts swimming in my head.  The BF asked if I was excited and got various responses that ranged anywhere from my desire to vomit to my thoughts of bailing.  Of course, I would not bail.  I would hate myself if I didn't do it.  There's also that bit about how I lecture my children about not being quitters.  I wouldn't have a leg to stand on with them in the future.  Perhaps most importantly, I wanted that dang medal!!!

As I said, the corrals were each started a few minutes apart.  We were supposed to start in corrals 32/33, but I think by the time everyone pushed ahead, we started in maybe corral 30 or 31.  Either way, we crossed the start line at 8:19am.  (The first corral started at 7:30).  Being so far back, we barely knew when the anthem was being sung, much less heard it.  That bummed me out, because I really like the anthem.


And we're off!

I fully intended to follow my training by running 4 minutes, walking one minute, and repeating for 13.1 miles.  But forget that!  Early on, there was no way you could walk if you wanted to.  Even in our ridiculously late-starting corral, there were too many runners for the first couple miles to make room for anyone to walk.

That was fine.  I didn't feel like walking anyway.  The weather was perfect.  It was supposed to be cold and rainy, but it turned out to be 40s with little to no wind and overcast.  It even got warmer and clear skies by the end.  Beautiful!  Of course, this Wisconsin girl, who has been tethered to a treadmill for months, would've been pretty good with anything snowless.  :)

Prior to the race, I put on the temporary "pace tat" to keep me at my nice, slow pace.  With it, I was aiming for 2:52 (I told you it was slow).  Early on, my Nike+ told me I was pushing more at a 12:20 pace. 

I got mine on Amazon, but their web site is www.pacetat.com

But I felt so great!!!  I couldn't believe it!  A nice, slow, steady 12:20-12:40 pace felt perfect- like I could go for hours.  And so I did!

The hill at mile 6ish was tough.  I had read about it, so I knew it would be my biggest challenge.  Here's the cool thing, though: you can see it coming.  I mean, quite a time before you're there, you know it's coming.  Perfect!  I walked a little bit right before to store some energy, because dang if I was gonna walk that hill.  I am a runner!!!

So, I dug in.  Head down, shortened stride, I ran, (very, very slowly) up that whole hill.  It wasn't even possible to count the number of people I passed who were walking it.  In fact, I only saw a couple other people who WERE running it.  Crazy.  After the hill was the only time in the run where I debated taking a puff of my inhaler. 

Finally, the crowds started picking up.  That was nice, because the race was pretty quiet up until then.  It was nice to get some energy from the people cheering and playing music.  The bands on the course were fun, but just too infrequent to really keep you going.  I was glad I had my headphones.

Finish Line

 Miles 10-12 had mile markers that were difficult to find.  I was glad I had watched the video laying out the course at the expo, because I had a decent idea how far I was.  I also had my Nike+, which was off about .2mile, but still helpful.

Like too many races I've run before, I thought the finish line was difficult to see.  The BF spotted me about .2mile before the end and was there for encouragement.  Didn't need it.  I rocked this dang thing.  Slowly, but it was MY race.  I passed a lot of t-shirts that read "I got this" and I thought, "no, I got this!"  All I wanted to know was where the line was, so I could kick it up a bit at the end, without killing my asthmatic lungs.  The BF told me where it was (around a curve, you couldn't see it until you were almost there), and I headed off to finish.

After the Finish Line

Unfortunately, it was a long time before I would see the BF again.  What a mess!!!

Finishing was sadly anti-climactic.  No BF in sight, some little girl handed me my medal all wrapped up tight in plastic, and I shuffled through with the other cattle to get some food and drink.  Supply was fine.  Obviously, they used more of their volunteers in the chute than they did on the course.  Still, it was a mass of humanity.

I couldn't find the BF, and I was starting to feel junky.  I wandered, slowly and in a haze, looking for his red shirt and white hat.  Nothing.  So, I started looking for the reunion spots.

Not only could I not find the reunion spots, I couldn't find a volunteer anywhere to ask.  When I finally found some medical volunteers, they only had a guess as to where to send me.  So, I slowly wandered farther, chugging Gatorade, toward the incredibly loud band.

Praise God, I started seeing reunion letter signs!  I aimed for the "C" as planned, and stood there.  I stretched a bit, ate a power bar, and stood there.  I looked around, my stomach turned, and I stood there.  No BF.  Where's my BF?  I want to see my BF!  I just finished my first freaking half marathon, where is my BF?!?!?

Yeah, the poor BF was stuck in line at Gear Check for an eternity.  What a mess.  When he found me, we high-tailed it out of the noise and crowd.  Forget the free beer and "after party".  Too much noise for us.

Apparently, many other people agreed.  We didn't get far before we realized the huge block FULL of people standing around near the bus stations was actually the line for the Metro!!!  FORGET THAT!!

We decided to walk a bit and try and hail a cab.  So did many other runners, unfortunately, because any cab we saw was either full or not stopping.  So, after my first 13.1 mile race, I walked another 2.2 miles back to the hotel.  Yikes.

And yet, I survived.  Thrilled at my accomplishment.

After we got showered and settled, the BF gave me a card.  Inside, was a magnet bumper sticker for my car.  I got weepy.  (sniff sniff)  I had always said I wanted a bumper sticker, but not until I could run the ENTIRE 13.1 miles.  The BF thought I needed one when I finished, regardless of how I did it.

Well, here I am, with great pride, holding my medal and bumper sticker (thrilled that I ended up running it all in 2:44):

I DID IT!!!!!!



In Summary

A List of Pros:
1) Port-a-potties a plenty.
2) The bands they had were fun.
3) Location, location, location... running in D.C., past Lincoln, the White House, etc. was incredible!
4) Metro in the morning was well run and not too crowded.
5) Photographers were everywhere.  I am already tagged in about a dozen pictures.  Fun for my first half, even if they are NOT flattering at all.  :)
6) Expo was fun, but plan for Homeland Security to slow your entry.


A List of Cons:
1) Not enough volunteers!  The water stops were poorly staffed, and there didn't seem to be enough Gatorade.  Major fail.  At some points, they were dipping cups in buckets of Gatorade to fill them, and using hoses to fill water.  I felt bad for the very few people there were, trying to keep up.  They had no chance.
2) The corrals were a joke.  Nice try, though.
3) Post-race chaos was out of control.  Better signage would've made a big difference.  The BF said it was VERY congested when he finished (about 2 hours) and it took him forever to get through.  That's why he figured he would have time to get to Gear Check while I went through the chute.
4) Transportation after the race was a NIGHTMARE!  Plan something else, or have a cab company in your phone to call... something!  Walking back to the hotel afterward was less than ideal, but it was better than standing still indefinitely waiting for the Metro.
5) Gear Check lines were incredibly long.  Expect to spend a lot of time there.



But did I mention I ran the whole thing???!?!?!??

:)

Thanks for reading.